Take Action: Support Justice for Mathieu Lefevre

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, November 30, 2011 Transportation Alternatives Delivers More Than 2,650 Letters to Commissioner Ray Kelly Demanding Enforcement of Traffic Laws, Announces Investigation of NYPD Safety Advocates Hold Rally for Traffic Justice at NYPD Headquarters For more information, please visit www.transalt.org Click to download original .pdf Today, Transportation Alternatives announced the launch of an investigation into the New York City Police Department's traffic crash investigation practices. Joined outside One Police Plaza by the friends and families of dangerous driving victims and concerned New Yorkers, advocates delivered more than 2,650 letters to NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, demanding the NYPD hold dangerous drivers accountable. The probe is being launched to shine a light on the Police Department's failure to recognize traffic violence as a public safety crisis. From 2000 to 2009, more people were killed in traffic than murdered by guns in New York City. The NYPD must take these fatalities as seriously as other preventable deaths and devote the necessary resources to save lives. "We are here on behalf of the hundreds killed and thousands injured by traffic violence every year to demand that Ray Kelly institute a zero tolerance policy for this carnage," said Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. "It's the NYPD's job to keep dangerous driving in check by holding reckless drivers accountable, but they are simply not taking that job seriously. Their cavalier attitude to the epidemic of lawless driving is absolutely unacceptable. We are going to hold the NYPD to task on behalf of the victims of dangerous drivers by launching a comprehensive investigation of the department's practices." The investigation will closely review and evaluate the NYPD's reports on scores of recent crashes that resulted in serious injuries or deaths. By focusing on the actions and conduct of the NYPD officers involved in the investigation, Transportation Alternatives' probe will uncover whether police investigators followed proper procedures and if they guaranteed everyone who was killed or injured a full and fair investigation. Among those present at the rally was Erika Lefevre, the mother of slain Brooklyn resident, Matheiu Lefevre. "We appreciate that NYPD has a difficult job in trying to investigate this crash and determine what happened," said Mrs. Lefevre. "We want NYPD to take the time it needs to conduct an unbiased, thorough, professional investigation. But NYPD has caused us great pain with their mishandling and withholding of information, and their rush to clear the driver of any wrongdoing." Last month, a flatbed truck driver killed Mathieu Lefevre at the intersection of Morgan Avenue and Meserole Street in Brooklyn. The driver left the scene of the crime, parked the vehicle a few blocks away and wasn't identified until several days later. The NYPD has not charged the driver with any crime—not for a hit and run, or even for failure to exercise due care. Between 2001 and 2010, 1,745 pedestrians and bicyclists have been killed in New York City traffic and 142,485 have been injured. There is nothing "accidental" about the majority of these crashes; 60 percent of fatal pedestrian and bicyclist crashes with known causes are caused by driver's dangerous and illegal behavior, according to an analysis of 80 contributing factors associated with crashes tracked by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. In crash after crash, Ray Kelly's police department fails to issue any summons to the driver whose behavior caused a death or serious injury. From this year alone: January 10, 2011: Jerrold Chaleff, 71 years old; run over in a mall parking lot in the Bronx. No charges filed. February 27, 2011: 27-year old victim; car broke down on the BQE. Got out and was in front of his car when a driver slammed into the broken down vehicle, killing the owner. No charges filed. March 21, Margaret Choberka, 82 years old; crossing at the intersection of 70th Street and 32nd Avenue in Jackson Heights, a driver ran a red light, hitting the back of another driver's vehicle which ran over Choberka. No charges filed. June 2, 2011: Leonia White, 89 years old; run over after a driver collided with pickup truck. No charges filed. June 28, 2011: Aniya Williams, 13 years old; crossing at the intersection on her last day of school, Williams was killed by a tractor trailer driver who stayed at the scene. No charges filed. July 17, 2011: Eric Bryant, driving 112 miles per hour, careens off the FDR and lands on a taxi below. Eight people are injured, several seriously. No charges filed. August 2, 2011: Chris Doyle, 29 years old: struck and killed by a truck driver while riding his bicycle in Williamsburg. No charges filed. August 30, 2011: Erica Abbott, 29 years old; struck and killed by a driver after trying to avoid debris in the road and falling off her bike on Bushwick Avenue. No charges filed. September 2, 2011: Nicholas Djandji, 24 years old; Killed by the driver of an SUV while riding on Borinquen Place in Brooklyn. No charges filed. September 12, 2011: Steven Reese, 58 years old; struck by a van driver as he tried to cross 125th St. Driver stayed at the scene. No charges filed. October 4, 2011: Jack Vanleuvan, 61 years old; Vanleuvan was driving a van in Chelsea that was part of a multi-vehicle crash that was started by a police officer driving a marked cruiser that gave "little to no warning" before running a red light. Vanleuvan died after spending a month in a coma. October 18, 2011: Mathieu Lefevre, 30 years old; struck by a flatbed truck driver on Morgan Avenue. Driver left the scene and had to be tracked down. Said he was unaware he hit Lefevre. No charges filed. October 24, 2011: Ronald Simpson, 43 years old; struck by a livery driver. After the cabbie fled the scene, Simpson was run over by a private sanitation truck driver. This driver stayed on the scene. No charges filed. November 4, 2011: Rev. Theauther Love, 87 years old; crossing Eastern Parkway and was struck and killed by an NYPD traffic agent. No data about speed or right of way has been released. No charges filed. Transportation Alternatives, 30 November 2011 Back to Main Page

Mathieu Lefèvre 13 March 1981 - 18 October 2011 www.mathieulefevre.com